


Cold Nights, Hot Chocolate and Vengeful Gods

by SophiaCatherine



Series: At Home with the Legends [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, Minor Ray Palmer/Mick Rory, Slice of Life, Team as Family, autistic characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 12:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14081403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophiaCatherine/pseuds/SophiaCatherine
Summary: It's getting cold on the Waverider. Under Gideon's expert watch, hot chocolate and stories help keep the Disaster Team warm.





	Cold Nights, Hot Chocolate and Vengeful Gods

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt sentences: “It’s like -50 degrees in here.” and “Sorry isn’t going to help when I kick your ass!”

At 3 o’clock in the morning in deep space, the Waverider’s heating systems fail.

Gideon sighs internally. (There’s no point sighing out loud when you’re an AI and there’s no one there for you to annoy.)

At first, she decides to give it till the morning if she possibly can. The Legends need their sleep if they’re going to battle anachronisms tomorrow.

By 4 o’clock she realises that she needs to wake the crew and get them working on a solution, if they don’t all want to freeze to death in the night. Which, she concludes, they probably don’t.

Gideon sets up the emergency alert, and waits.

Amaya is the first to arrive at the console, still in her pajamas. (Blue, with a sleepy zebra across the front.) “What’s up?” she says with a yawn.

Gideon embodies herself as her blue head, floating above the console. “We seem to be having some issues with the heating system,” she says cheerfully. “In the the sense that it is not working. It’s cold in deep space. Ms Tomaz and Mr West are on their way. In the meantime…” She produces a tray of steaming mugs of hot chocolate at the fabrication unit in the corner.

Amaya sighs, rubs her arms vigorously, and goes to pick up the tray.

Wally is next to saunter in, warmly dressed. “What’s the crisis, fam?” He speeds over to Gideon and peers at the console. “Lemme guess. Giant space monsters? A horde of ancient British barbarians in spaceships shot our engines out? We get cursed by Beebo?”

Amaya yawns again. “Oh my god, Wally, don’t tempt Gideon. She’ll find us something _that_ ridiculous, just for you.”

Mick stomps into the control room from the other side, wearing a heavy coat. “Gideon, what the hell is wrong with the heating?” he yells. “It’s like -50 degrees in here. Why’s all your shit fucking broken again?”

“If you could kindly _not_ curse at me, Mr Rory, I will be more willing to attempt to ameliorate the issue before you freeze to death.” She lets herself sound delighted at this prospect. “There could be a number of technical explanations for the drop in temperature. However, I can assure you that no one is likely to die of cold just yet.” Just for him, she adds, “Unless I want them to.”

Amaya indicates the hot chocolate. “We’re working on the heating problem,” she says calmly. She glances up at Mick as she passes him a mug. “Good of you to get dressed this time.”

“Didn’t really,” he rumbles. “I was cold.” He pulls at his coat. “Not wearing anything under this.”

Amaya raises an eyebrow. “Thanks for that image. Drink your hot chocolate.”

Zari emerges, closely followed by Nate and then Sara. Zari’s carrying her iPad, scanning Gideon’s manual as she walks. Sara’s wearing grey pajamas and a scowl. Nate’s hair is defying gravity in eight different directions.

“Gideon,” Zari says, not looking up, “I’m catching up on your environmental systems. Can you give me the detailed coding specs?” She moves to the console, expert fingers running briskly over the controls.

Ray is the last to appear. He wanders in, hugging himself and looking deeply unhappy. “It’s _cold_ ,” he says.

The entire team stop what they’re doing and give him a _look_.

Ray wrinkles his nose. “Am I stating the obvious again?”

“No,” Zari says, in a tone that Ray does not appear to recognise as sarcasm, because he only looks more confused. Zari rolls her eyes. “A little, but we still love you,” she says, resigned, and claps him on the shoulder.

“This SUCKS!” Mick roars suddenly. He’s huddled in a jump seat, now wearing not only his coat, but Nate’s too. (Nate is shivering a bit in just his sweater.)

“ _Okay, everyone_ ,” Sara calls out, and takes a breath, gesturing with her hands at her chest to suggest that everyone else should do the same. (Ray closes his eyes and takes an enthusiastic deep breath. Nate stares pityingly at him.) “It’s all going to be fine. We’re just gonna wait this out while Zari fixes it. We’re totally safe, just a bit cold. Now if everyone could just -”

“Chill?” Nate suggests with a grin, and Sara spins around and fixes a glare on him. His grin widens.

Zari looks up from her coding at the other side of the console. “I think I’ve found the problem.” There’s a cheer from around the room, and she puts a hand up to stop them. “Doesn’t mean I can solve it yet.” The cheer fades into a whine.

Sara leans sleepily against a jump seat. “You’re doing great, girl,” she encourages, and closes her eyes.

Mick is now huddled in three coats plus the blanket that Wally has fetched from his room.

(“Why are you guys always sending me to get stuff?”

“Because you’re faster than us, Speedy. Get me some more hot chocolate while you’re up. No mini marshmallows. I hate mini marshmallows.”)

Nate is sitting cross-legged on the console, reading ‘A History of Britain,’ 4th edition, while Zari snaps at him for sitting on panels that she needs to reach. (“I get that you’re completely useless in this situation, Nathaniel, but please move your ass.”)

Ray is slumped down into a seat and is staring at the floor, his face a little grey.

“Hey,” Zari says at she looks up at him, the snark leaving her voice, replaced with concern. She leaves the console and crouches down next to Ray. “Sensory issues?”

He nods once, slowly. “You want one of us to take you somewhere quiet?” she asks softly.

Ray looks around at the Legends, then shakes his head. He starts to fiddle with his hands, and Nate’s fidget spinner is dropped into them. Ray looks up, gives Nate a grateful smile, and spins it a few times. “It’s just the cold,” he says, once he’s looking a little calmer.

Wally has blankets piled over Ray in under a second. Ray grins at him, a little weakly.

Zari returns to her coding, but shoots Amaya a look that clearly says _take care of our neurodivergent Legends._

Amaya crouches down, looking between Mick, who’s a picture of seething rage, and Ray, who’s still a funny colour. “Who wants a story?” she says with exaggerated brightness.

“No,” Mick snaps, at first, but then his eyes get wider. “…Okay, maybe story,” he mumbles after a second.

Amaya smiles and hops up to sit on the console. “The River Zambesi has a river god,” she starts. “Nyami Nyami is his name.” She smiles into the distance, and very faint edges of the _ashe_ of a snake form behind her, coiling and uncoiling.

Nate puts his book down and picks up his other fidget spinner, listening.

Sara leans back against the chair with a half smile.

“His form is sometimes a snake, sometimes a powerful, swirling whirlwind,” Amaya continues. “Turbulent air, never resting, always ready to defend his people.” She pauses to smile fondly at Zari, whose attention is focused on the console.

Ray gazes at Amaya, his attention apparently diverted from the cold.

Mick has closed his eyes.

She carries on. “Nyami Nyami lived peacefully with his wife by the Kariba Gorge, surrounded his people, the Tonga tribe.” She looks dangerous, suddenly. “Then the colonizers came. They built a dam.”

The huge snake forms more clearly behind Amaya, and her eyes flash, white and threatening. “The colonizers forcibly relocated the Tonga people, who did not want to leave their river and their gods. The day the dam wall was completed, Nyami Nyami’s wife was visiting her people on the other side of the valley, blessing them and answering their prayers. When the final brick was placed in the wall, the god and his wife were separated.”

A little gasp escapes from Nate, who is curled up around himself on the console, his eyes wide.

Amaya is staring far into the distance. “In terror and resistance the people cried out to their protector.” She closes her eyes and breathes deeply. “And maybe it was Nyami Nyami’s anger at being separated from his wife, or maybe it was the Tonga people themselves, empowered by their god. But construction around the river was cursed for the colonizers, from that day forward.” She smiles an ominous, wide-eyed smile. “A cyclone swept the valley. A whirlwind of air, defending the people.” Amaya’s low voice echoes around the control room. “The river rose 20 feet. Another flood followed the next year.” She opens her eyes and places a hand on her heart. “The Tonga people live on.”

Ray leans forward. “Did the god ever find his wife?” he asks in an almost-whisper.

Amaya raises her eyebrows and wraps her hand around her totem. “Great tremors are still felt in the valley of the Zambesi river. Nyami Nyami calls to his wife. One day the wall will fall, and they will be reunited.”

Behind Amaya, the snake _ashe_ fades.

There’s a warm, comfortable silence around the console.

Then Mick opens his eyes. “ _Nice_ story,” he says approvingly.

Zari does a sudden fist pump in the air. “I think I’ve done it!” she says. “Some stuff was reset that shouldn’t have been.” She narrows her eyes. Then she looks up. “Okay. Which one of you assholes have been messing with Gideon’s environmental settings?”

Everyone looks at her innocently.

Except for Nate, who starts to wriggle out of his curled-up position on the console. “I gotta go… do some research…” he mumbles, pointing in the general direction of the library.

“YOU BASTARD!” Mick roars, getting up and grabbing at Nate.

Nate jumps down to avoid Mick’s ire. “I was getting cold at night!” he protests. “I’m sorry!”

“‘Sorry’ isn’t going to help when I kick your ass! You were _cold_? Well you’re a whole lot fucking colder now, aren’t you, Pretty?”

In an instant, Sara shoves herself between them, in a fighting stance. “HEY!” she yells at Mick. He stops, and slinks back. “Do we fight other Legends, Mick?”

Mick looks down. “No.”

Sara folds her arms. “Apologise to Nate.”

“Sorry,” Mick mumbles.

“Yeah, well. I’m sorry,” Nate mumbles back. He looks up at Mick and grins. “Wanna hug?”

“No! Fuck you!” Mick dodges out of Nate’s reach.

Zari sighs and throws her iPad at Nate. He steels up, and it bounces off him. “Nate, if you’ve got a problem with the ship’s settings, _please_ come and ask me before you mess with stuff, okay?”

Nate nods at her solemnly and apologetically.

Zari grins at him, then turns to Wally. “I’ve reset the basic environmental settings for now.  _He_ -" she glares at Nate again “- managed to do a number on the controls. Can I get your help in the engine room in the morning?”

“Sure,” Wally yawns. “Can I go to bed now?”

“Yup. We all can,” Sara says, looking to Zari for confirmation and getting a nod in reply.

Wally speeds off with a wave.

Mick gets up, throwing most of the coats and blankets into a pile on the floor. Mercifully, he doesn’t take off his own coat.

“Mick,” Ray sighs, and points. “I’m not cleaning that mess up for you.”

Mick shrugs. “I’ll do it tomorrow. Bed now.” He starts to stalk off, then shoots a look back at Ray. “Coming?”

Ray rolls his eyes and follows him.

Nate skulks away through the other door, throwing back more apologies as he goes.

Sara shakes her head. “Oh my god. This _team_.” She checks her watch. “Oh hey, I think it’s morning where Ava is.” She raises a happy eyebrow at the remaining team members, then bounces away.

“Good story,” Zari says, as she and Amaya are the last to walk away from the console together. “Oh, and by the way,” Zari adds, “ _cute_ pajamas.”

Amaya’s replying smile is impish. “Yeah? You like them? You can see some more back in my room.”

Zari laughs and takes Amaya’s hand.

Amaya doesn’t let go, but she places the back of her other hand dramatically across her forehead. “Why, Miss Tomaz, you haven’t even wined and dined me yet. I’m a respectable girl from the 1940s, you know.”

“Um, I think you just propositioned _me_ ,” Zari replies. “Also we’ve been dating for six weeks, love,” she adds, as they leave the control room. “And I _literally_ took you to dinner in Paris in the ‘60s.”

“Right,” Amaya admits. “Wanna plan the next date back in my room?”

Zari’s laughter disappears into the hallway with them.

Gideon makes a note for her logs. Six weeks. She’s been struggling to get the data for that situation. Those two are ridiculously secretive.

She checks her systems again. Everything’s running perfectly. Captain Hunter would be proud, she thinks. (She feels an odd little pang at that, and re-checks her systems - but yes, Ms Tomaz has left everything in excellent working order.)

Satisfied, Gideon settles into the silence of deep space. The night is her time, shipshape and peaceful. The Legends will, of course, interrupt it with their chaos again soon enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments very welcome. I always reply!
> 
> I hope I haven't mangled the (real) Tonga myth too badly. I love that story!
> 
> On tumblr [here](https://sophiainspace.tumblr.com/).


End file.
